Data processing method and system for improved business process monitoring

Abstract

A method of monitoring a data processing system which is processing a transaction, comprising steps of: receiving event data from each of a plurality of data processing sub-systems making up the data processing system, the event data corresponding to events taking place within the plurality of data processing sub-systems as the data processing system processes the transaction; deriving address information from the event data; mapping the address information to corresponding process status indicator labels; and displaying the process status indicator labels for review by a user.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of monitoring a data processing system which is processing a transaction, comprising steps of:
 (a) receiving event data from each of a plurality of data processing sub-systems making up the data processing system, the event data corresponding to events taking place within the plurality of data processing sub-systems as the data processing system processes the transaction, the event data having a data structure format unique to the specific data processing sub-system from which the event data was received;   (b) deriving address information from the received event data, wherein the address information corresponds to a logical location in a corresponding sub-system where data related to a corresponding event can be perceived as having been either processed by, stored in or, having held a state in;   (c) mapping the address information to corresponding process status indicator labels; and   (d) displaying the process status indicator labels for review by a user.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of data processing sub-systems include at least one Enterprise Service Bus data processing sub-system. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the address information for the Enterprise Service Bus data processing sub-system includes a process name, an event type, and a node identifier. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the mapping step is carried out using a mapping table, mapping address information to process status indicator labels, where the mapping table is pre-populated during a modelling phase, prior to a runtime phase of operation of the data processing system. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4  wherein a regular expression is used during the modelling phase to create at least one entry in the mapping table. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the mapping step is carried out using a mapping table, mapping address information to process status indicator labels, where the mapping table is populated during a runtime phase of operation of the data processing system. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein event handlers are deployed to a runtime environment of the data processing system in order to receive event data from the data processing system while the data processing system is in the runtime phase of operation. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein event data received from the event handlers are input to a database, and the method further includes the step of displaying the event data onto a display screen, and receiving drag-and-drop input from a user whereby the user can drag specific event data and drop it into a category corresponding to a specific process status indicator label. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the mapping step takes into account an address element hierarchy when performing the mapping. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the taking into account of the address element hierarchy includes mapping a parent node of the address information prior to mapping a child node of the address information. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the event data includes an identifying element of a document instance being processed by the data processing system. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the identifying element of a document instance includes a customer number and a purchase order number. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the processing of the transaction includes the data processing system progressing through a plurality of waypoints, where a first group of the plurality of waypoints correspond to points in the transaction which relate to a status indicator label, and a second group of the plurality of waypoints correspond to points in the transaction which do not relate to a status indicator label. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the displaying step displays the first group of the plurality of waypoints to a first group of users, and displays the first and second groups of the plurality of waypoints to a second group of users. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the second group of users are technical support users. 
     
     
         16 . A system having a processor and a memory, where the memory stores instructions adapted for, when executed by the processor, carrying out a method of monitoring a data processing system which is processing a transaction, comprising steps of:
 (a) receiving event data from each of a plurality of data processing sub-systems making up the data processing system, the event data corresponding to events taking place within the plurality of data processing sub-systems as the data processing system processes the transaction, the event data having a data structure format unique to the specific data processing sub-system from which the event data was received;   (b) deriving address information from the received event data, wherein the address information corresponds to a logical location in a corresponding sub-system where data related to a corresponding event can be perceived as having been either processed by, stored in or, having held a state in;   (c) mapping the address information to corresponding process status indicator labels; and   (d) displaying the process status indicator labels for review by a user.   
     
     
         17 . A computer readable medium storing a program comprising instructions for carrying out the steps of a method, when said computer program is executed on a computer system, the method being a a method of monitoring a data processing system which is processing a transaction, comprising steps of:
 (a) receiving event data from each of a plurality of data processing sub-systems making up the data processing system, the event data corresponding to events taking place within the plurality of data processing sub-systems as the data processing system processes the transaction, the event data having a data structure format unique to the specific data processing sub-system from which the event data was received;   (b) deriving address information from the received event data, wherein the address information corresponds to a logical location in a corresponding sub-system where data related to a corresponding event can be perceived as having been either processed by, stored in or, having held a state in;   (c) mapping the address information to corresponding process status indicator labels; and   (d) displaying the process status indicator labels for review by a user.